LAWS(P&H)-1977-4-11

RAMJI LAL Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

Decided On April 08, 1977
RAMJI LAL Appellant
V/S
STATE OF HARYANA Respondents

JUDGEMENT

(1.) RAMJI Lal, Chairman of the Panchayat Samiti, Hissar II, and four members of the aforesaid Panchayat Samiti have in this writ petition challenged the proceedings of the meeting of that Samiti held on 19th Nov. 1976. In that meeting, two resolutions were passed. By one resolution, the motion asking Shri Ramji Lal, petitioner No. 1, to vacate the office of the Chairman of that Samiti was accepted and by the other resolution. Shri Anand Dev, respondent No. 5, was elected as the new Chairman of the Samiti. It is alleged that the entire proceedings of that meeting are illegal and null and void on the grounds mentioned in the petition and, therefore, those may be quashed. In other words, the primary relief sought for in the writ petition is that the first resolution requiring petitioner No. 1 to vacate the office of Chairman of the Samiti is liable to be quashed as it was passed in excess or abuse of the powers conferred by or under the Punjab Panchayat Samitis and Zilla Parishads Act, 1961, hereinafter referred to as the Act, and also that it was not legally passed.

(2.) MR . C. D. Dewan, learned Advocate--General, Haryana, appearing for respondents Nos. 1 to 3, has raised a preliminary objection that when an alternate remedy to seek redress sought for is provided by and under the provisions of the Act and the petitioners can legally avail of that alternate remedy, this Court should refuse to exercise its power under Art. 226 of the Constitution. I have heard him and also Mr. Anand Sarup, learned counsel for the petitioners, on this point. In my opinion, there is a good deal of force in the above submission made by Mr. Dewan.

(3.) ACCORDING to the allegations made in the petition, the resolution passed by the members of the Samiti accepting the motion for removal of Ramji Lal Petitioner No. 1 from the office of Chairman in its meeting held on 19th Nov. 1976, was illegally passed and that it was also passed in excess or abuse of the powers conferred by or under the Act on the Panchayat Samiti. That being so, the State Government can be approached by way of making an application to it under S. 102 of the Act to get that resolution cancelled on those grounds. This view finds support from the decision of the Division Bench of this Court in Ranjit Singh v. State of Punjab, 1964 Cur LJ (Punj) 255. In that case, it was held as under:-" The impugned order of the Governor, Annexure 'c' has not set aside the election of the petitioner. All that has been done is that the resolution which was passed on 2nd August, 1963, has been cancelled. It cannot be said that the first resolution removing the third respondent from the office of the Chairman can be challenged by way of an election petition under S. 121 and there is nothing to suggest that the power of the government does not extend under sub--s. (1) of S. 102 of the Act to cancel a resolution which is not passed in conformity with the provisions of the Act even though it may lead consequentially to the resulting election being made ineffective. Indeed no election of the petitioner as a Chairman it could have taken place unless the third respondent had been validly removed under the first proviso of sub--s. (1) of S. 18 of the act petitioner as a Chairman it could have been challenged only by way of an election petition. The first resolution removing the third respondent from his office not being such a matter can certainly be cancelled by the Government under sub--s. (1) of S. 102 and nothing has been said about the second resolution in the impugned order. " In the aforesaid authority, it has been laid down that the power of the government does extend under sub--s. (1) of S. 102 of the Act to cancel the resolution which is not passed in conformity with the provisions of the Act even though it may lead consequently to the resulting election being made ineffective. That being so, the provisions of clause (3) of Art. 226 of the Constitution are fully attracted in this case.